TOD Tour 2.0 Day 67 - Mt Isa to Winton

A completely forgettable day. Our longest drive (470kms), much of into a head wind and for some reason, Sue's worst day on tour.

Hardly any highlights but the sighting of Brolgas at Kynuna as Sue was walking to exercise her back in 38C was probably it.

The lowlight was being struck by a rock from an oncoming truck and a star crack appearing in the windscreen. Now, whilst I know my insurance policy covers a free windscreen each year, the advanced gadgetry of my car means it has to be fitted by a specialist and all of the gadgets re-calibrated. Takes all day and last time, they stuffed it up and it took four visits to the windscreen guy and the Subaru guy to fix it up.

Even the Guinness at Tatts Hotel at Winton at the end of the day, lacked its usual sparkle.

TOD Tour 2.0 Day 14 - Barcaldine to Winton

A good angle on the
Wellshot Hotel

Barcaldine to Winton: 341 kms (trip 2315 kms)

We continued west along a new highway - the Landsborough - as far as Longreach, which was only a whistle stop on this tour. Having seen its attractions in a three day stop in 2018, it was just a few groceries and on towards Winton.

Notable on the first leg to Longreach was morning tea in Ilfracombe. This small village, which has been known for many years for its display of farm implements that line the highway as it zips through town, was a curio we encountered on the QOT 2018. Change has hit the place since, with the destruction of the old general store and cafe. It had featured wide verandahs on which to enjoy a cuppa and take in the vista of the farm equipment but since our last visit, it has burned to the ground in a fire caused by an electrical fault in the ceiling cavity. The fire started as they were serving, with customers enjoying the verandah. No one was injured but the loss proved too much and the owners didn't rebuild.

In place of this lost coffee spot, the ever industrious people at the Wellshot Hotel have opened a hole in the wall from which they serve a good cuppa and a mean hot chocolate, among other things. The Wellshot is a place of great character and undoubtedly, greater characters. The bar is a hoot, with its display of hats, funny signs and joke photo opportunities. As was the case the last time we were here, the bar staff were young, Irish and full of fun. On the ceiling, there is currently thousands of dollars, soon to be cleared and given to charity. The deal is, you take a note from your wallet and a two dollar coin. They add a large drawing pin and scrunch it up to a ball shape. They throw it up to the ceiling where it sticks and the note slowly unfurls. If you catch the two dollar coin as it falls from the note, you get a free beer.

There is just so much imagination and dry outback humour at the Wellshot. Its a hackneyed saying but it truly is a must see.

After Longreach, its a 180kms northwest to Winton: pretty much flat, pretty much straight.

We booked in to the Tattersalls Hotel Caravan Park on what had become a warm afternoon. After setting up, it seemed obligatory I should have a Guinness at the bar or yet another colourful pub. Among its features are the flags of many nations attached to the ceiling.

The Royal Cinema

After dinner, we went to the Royal Cinema, the second oldest outdoor cinema in Australia (behind the Sun in Broome). Largely run as a family affair for much of its hundred year plus life, its currently leased by a not for profit who conduct tours and have evenings when they recreate the feel of the cinema in the 1960's. Sling back canvas chairs are arranged over a concrete floor which once doubled as a roller skating rink when times were tough and multi channel free to air TV came to Winton. The back part of the cinema has a brick floor. The bricks were originally the facade of the next door building which burnt down. Winton has a rich history of fire catastrophe. Of course, by outdoor, I mean it has no roof or ceiling, just a blanket of stars. One wall of the cinema is a corrugated iron fence, probably 15 feet high in old terms but for a section, it has a further extension above that. It was put there to stop the cheapskates from the North Gregory Hotel watching the feature from the second story windows!

We were shown old glass advertising slides of Winton business of fifty years ago, projected using a carbon arc projector that was at least 80 years old. It works by bringing two electrified carbon rods together to make an arc between them and a light bright enough to project. The operator is constantly bringing the rods together as the carbon is eroded by the procedure.

Click to see today's photos

There was a cartoon and some highlights of old slapstick and that was the evening done. We had bought the kids here in 1995 to see The Jungle Book, so it was nice nostalgia.

Tomorrow dinosaurs.

Qld Outback Tour - Waltzing Matilda - Winton

Longreach - Winton, 180kms, 9.8L/100km

Moving day today, heading north west up the Landsborough Highway to the place which claim Waltzing Matilda.

We had the strange situation of being parking in an almost entire row of AVAN campers last night, after two nights of being the only one there. Five of us in all, with one new and one very dated Jayco camper squeezed in among us.

Beautiful bright, clear day and an almost uneventful drive. Sam can't be said for the poor buggers we came upon about halfway to Winton. We knew about it well before we got there from the radio chatter but a very large van had gone over onto its side and was completely blocking the roadway and a fair proportion of the road verge as well. Remarkably, he attached vehicle was still attached and on all four tyres and seem undamaged. The wild skid marks indicated they had lost control for some reason as they approached a small bridge. Once those big rigs start to sway they have a mind of their own. An ambulance was in attendance but indications were shock was the major problem. The truckies were marvelous, warning traffic in both directions and two army personnel who had been in a low loader carrying army vehicles had organised a bypass for traffic and were directing it.

It was a reminder of how fragile our existence is out on these opposing lanes of asphalt, some of us at 110km/h.

The Waltzing Matilda Centre

We arrived at Winton for an early lunch and the decamped on foot to the Waltzing Matilda Centre, a modern exhibition space which has only just opened in the last month after the original burnt down in 2015. It included a main gallery which uses state of the art technology to tell the story of the land where Walting Matilda originated and of course, the history of the song. Also included in the Centre are an art space and a cafe and it opens out onto the original Qantilda Museum, or what remains of it. Our children will remember it as the tractors, trains and glass bottles section.

Staffed by informed and friendly people, this is a first class museum.

For the evening, we went to the North Gregory Hotel and dined in the infamous dining room where Daphne Mayo, who came to Winton after falling out with her lover, Lloyd Rees. They are quite exquisite. The chairs are mid century modern, with the backs like the one Christine Keeler was famously photographed in.

The "spot" where Waltzing Matilda
was first performed publicly

Banjo's words were sung here for the first time ... or so the mythology goes. I tried to ignore the fact that the first hotel in which the event was supposed to take place was demolished and that two subsequent successors burnt down - as is the trend in outback Qld - or that this current hotel was built in 1955 to a completely new design. However, you don't ruin a good story with the facts. The dining room doors are decorated with etched glass by

The foyer is similarly decorated with light fittings and staircases which make the very strong statements of post WWII optimism typical of the time.

Click to see today's photos

After dinner, we walked over to the Tatts Hotel so Sue could listen to an old dear playing saxophone to midi tapes - you all know ow much I love that - and so I could enjoy a Guinness on tap.

We'll be returning to Winton later in the trip but for now, we move on tomorrow to McKinlay ad Hawaiian Night at the Walkabout Creek Hotel.